Artists in Partnership prepares for 9th annual Women in the Arts awards

Artists in Partnership, a nonprofit organization advocating for local artists and creators, will present the 9th annual Women in the Arts awards and recognition gala at the Allegria Hotel on April 16.

The event spotlights women in the community who represent visual and literary artists, musicians, educators, businesswomen and community activists who keep cultural arts and the local community at the center of their work.

“These women — there are so many levels of their involvement in the community and what it is that they give to the community,” said Johanna Mathieson-Ellmer, director of Artists in Partnership and Women in the Arts committee member. “That’s the purpose of it. It all started just as an idea, ‘It’s time to celebrate some women.’ And that’s what we did.”

The 2026 Women in the Arts honorees include 14 women in seven different categories: Judy Rosemarin, an author, poet, actor and coach, for the lifetime achievement award; Marianne Raisig, president of the Long Beach Kiwanis Club, for community champion; Claire Glassman, an artist/painter and social worker; Stephanie Erdel-Laws, a musician, artist, and muralist; Melinda McKee; Lisa Dawn Romano, a photographer and member of the Long Beach Art League, for artists and community.

Lisa Bronshteyn, co-director of The Dance Loft and Chessy Antonello, an instructor at Earth Arts Pottery, for educator and community; Kelly Martinsen and Shannon Williams, co-owners of Core 95 fitness studio and Marisa L. Russell, founder of Meadow and Bark skincare, for businesses in support of healing arts. Rose Ott, an interior designer and artist for business of art, design and community; and Jeanne Evrard Chaffer Browne, president of the Long Beach Historical Society and Chiren Curry, board chair of the Martin Luther King Community Center, for community organizers and the arts.

In addition to recognizing the nominees and their achievements, this year’s event will also be dedicated to the late Hedy Page, a longtime artist and patron of Artists in Partnership, who died last month at age 96. Page was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award at the inaugural Women in the Arts gala in 2017.

“She was actually in the first group,” said Mathieson-Ellmer. “They were just who we were learning from and who we were being supported by. They set the standard and paved the road for us.”

The event also serves as a notable fundraiser for Artists in Partnership, with ticket sales helping to fund the nonprofit’s artistic programs. The celebratory evening will feature the awards ceremony, live music, a dinner buffet, raffle prizes and more. Tickets are available for $150, with discounted pricing offered until March 22. For more information about the awards, tickets, or sponsorships, visit aip4arts.org.